the reading list...

Two new great reads I finished recently:

The Bullfighter Checks Her Makeup: My Encounters with Extraordinary People by Susan Orlean: a bunch of short profiles of interesting people - a female bullfighter in Spain, Silly Billy the Clown (and his clowning empire in NYC), Tonya Harding's fan club (this was right after the Nancy Kerrigan thing), a show dog (boxer), the 80s singer Tiffany, designer Bill Blass ... She makes all of their stories interesting. In one case, I wanted to know what else happened to these people, and was actually googling them to see what else I could find out.

As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey by Allan Epstein. I found this on my shelf when I was cleaning. I'd bought it but apparently never read it (sometimes it's just like Christmas in my room, I swear). It was written right before the Jubilee in 2000, which is when I was there. The author is American, but fell in love with Rome and moved his family there. He talks about Roman culture from an outsider's insider perspective (because he's in the community, but yet outside it, if that makes sense?) I loved Rome when I was there, it was our home base since that is where Loyola's beautiful campus is. I wish I had read this before I'd gone...

Of course, all other reading has been suspended currently as I have devoted all my free moments to re-reading all of the Harry Potter books so I am entirely prepared for the release of #7. I have one pre-ordered here, of course, but I will be in New York on the actual day, so I might just have to get a copy there.... who knows? It would be great (if heavy) plane reading.

I am at the end of book 5, (Order of the Phoenix). I am kind of putting off finishing it, because I know what happens (and I won't say, in case you haven't read it) and I somehow apparently think that if I don't read it, it won't happen. Hmmm. Major avoidance issues. All of the books after Goblet of Fire have made me cry (so maybe I don't want to be in public when I read book 7?)